Time Tracker has been around for decades and has established itself as a top contender among employee scheduling software applications. However, with time, even the best software starts to show its age as better-maintained scheduling tools come into existence. Time Tracker's interface resembles those of outdated operating systems, but navigating within the application is relatively painless. Time Tracker is only available for Windows computers.

We can recommend this desktop software as a good scheduling application that has several effective features. Its best capabilities are employee-information tracking, simple but comprehensive auto-scheduling, data aggregation and reporting, and an advanced auto-recovery feature. Furthermore, elements such as shift swap, rotating shifts and schedule conflict warnings are easy to use.

Time Tracker is desktop software that is available for a one-time cost. Its price is higher than competing downloadable applications' prices, especially if you need to schedule more than 31 employees. For an unlimited number of employees, the cost is four times that of our top-ranked scheduling picks. You pay extra for shipping and help and support, and you can't download the software directly from the internet. In comparison, competing web-based scheduling applications charge monthly fees.

You can start using Time Tracker scheduling software with a schedule set-up wizard. In our tests, it took us several minutes to get rolling. First, you will set up your employee list, and then create shifts and start assigning them. After you create your first week's schedule, an auto-scheduler takes over. You can work in either live-schedule or schedule-pattern mode. You can also plan bookings. This capability is absent in most competing applications.

Planning staff shifts is simple with the application's automated tool, and so is changing those shifts. For example, you can swap employee shifts painlessly or schedule rotating shifts. All the functionality is improved by a pop-up conflict window, whether you use the automated tool or make changes manually. The conflict warnings take into account a comprehensive set of employee information such as availability, allowed vacation and paid time off, staffer skills and certifications, and possible shift assignments. A new tool lets employees log in to the application to edit this information and see their individual schedules. You can also email your employees' schedules to them. Combined, these features make for terrific scheduling accuracy that will save you time and reduce absenteeism and turnover rates.

In the latest version of this scheduling application, a new Context Scheduling feature makes seeing your staff coverage easier by way of multiple calendar views and automatic window sizing. You can also customize interface colors and the way you see employee data.

An outstanding feature in Time Tracker is the back-up and auto-recovery process. This is just one element of the beneficial data-tracking and aggregation tools. In addition, this desktop software offers 44 total reports, which is more than any other scheduler we tested. For example, you can run an Activity Variance Summary that compares the total number of shift hours against the number of hours actually worked to see which shifts need more employees. This data tracking is an excellent tool for presenting staffing information to upper management. You can print any of the reports or export them to HTML, PDF or Microsoft Word files. Unfortunately, our tests proved that accessing some of the reports is cumbersome. Data concerning labor costs and employee clock in/clock out times is not available.

The look and feel of the interface is the biggest limitation of Time Tracker staff scheduling software. This hinders utilization of the various features, especially if you are only familiar with the latest operating systems for PC. One of the confusing aspects is an unsophisticated menu system.

Other limitations of this product concern popular features we found in the best schedulers. Deficiencies include online schedule posting, programming tools that interface with external applications, announcement of open shifts, employee text messages and an app for mobile devices.

Support is available in many varieties for Time Tracker, but this benefit is mitigated by the fact that you have to pay extra for personal technical support by phone or email after your first two hours. Paying for a full year of support costs more than one-fifth as much as the software itself. Therefore, we recommend that you first refer to the built-in help center, user manual or narrated video tutorials. Unfortunately, these DIY options are less than extensive and don't precisely match the software interface. Future updates are in the works, according to product manufacturer Asgard Systems Inc.